Does The "Most Diverse Congress Ever" Represent You?

Does The "Most Diverse Congress Ever" Represent You?

A new Congress arrives on Capitol Hill today, and we're excited. As you may have heard, it’s the most diverse ever. A total of 71 new members are headed to D.C. to start legislating. The Republicans now dominate both the House and the Senate, which, since the president's still a Democrat, has left many worrying if anything will get done for the next two years.

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But, since this is day one, and Congress is supposed to represent the people, we thought we'd start with a look at who we've got. Does the new Congress represent you? We created a five-question quiz to help you decide. (Spoiler alert: Prepare to be disappointed.)

1. Are you a man?
If yes, then great job. The 114th Congress is, for the 114th time, (nearly) all yours. More women than ever are legislating in Congress, but there is still a huge gender disparity among your elected representatives. Though a record-breaking 104 women are represented in the new Congress, they’re still vastly outnumbered by their 430 male colleagues.

2. Are you white?
If so, you’re in luck. (Again.) The new Congress definitely represents you: It’s a whopping 80% white in the House and 94% white in the Senate. Overall, the new Congress has 442 white members, 46 Black members (including Mia Love, the first ever Black Republican woman), 33 Hispanic members, 12 Asian American members, and two Native American members, both of whom are from Oklahoma.

3. Are you Christian?
If you’re picking a religion based on representation in Congress, Christianity is the way to go. An overwhelming 92% of Congress identifies as Christian. Of those, 306 are Protestants, 164 are Catholic, and 16 are Mormon. By comparison, 73% of Americans identify as Christian, according to the Pew Research Center.

4. Are you old?
AARP members, unite! Here’s a perk of old age: Congress looks a lot more like you. The average age of members of the House is 57; in the Senate, that ticks up to 61, according to The Hill. In the U.S. as a whole, 22 is the most common age — which proves that Taylor Swift is even more of a mastermind than you thought.

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5. Are you a lawyer?
Every other profession is just playing for second: Men and women with legal training dominate Congress. There are 213 members of Congress with a J.D., according to the National Law Journal. That may seem sky-high, but it’s down from the 113th Congress, the members of which had 226 J.D.s. among them.